Canadians elect Justin Trudeau, social media swoons

The country that unleashed Bieberfever has social media swooning over a new Justin.

He's an avid boxer with the physique to show for it. He snowboards. And he's the new prime minister of Canada.

Forget about his views on climate change or the crisis in Syria. Some commentators had a more pressing question about the 6-foot-2-inch (2.3-meter) former school teacher who defeated Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Monday's elections.

"Is Justin Trudeau the sexiest politician in the world?" read the title of the U.K.-based Mirror newspaper.

For sure, according to the Australian news website news.com.au. "The votes are in and Canada has come out of its election with a super hot new leader," it wrote.

Added Australian news anchor James Mchale in a tweet: "In Canada Justin Trudeau's Liberals elected on a platform of sorry I lost my train of thought he's just so handsome."

A 2008 photograph swiftly circulated on the internet showing a shirtless Trudeau, sporting a mane of shaggy dark hair, flexing his arms after a boxing match with Canadian Senator Patrick Brazeau. That immediately drew comparisons with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another world leader with a habit of posing shirtless.

The buzz is fitting for the man who was born to the glitz surrounding his father, the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, a dashing bachelor when he rose to office in 1968. Known for setting Canada on a firm liberal course, the elder Trudeau also enthralled the world with his whirlwind social life. While in office, he dated movie stars including Barbra Streisand, married 22-year-old Margaret Sinclair, had three children with her, including Justin, then separated from her.

But Justin Trudeau tries to project an image of family man, not ladies' man. He has been married to former television host Sophie Gregoire since 2005, and they have three young children.

During the campaign, the Conservatives tried to dismiss him as an inexperienced lightweight, snarking in television ads about his "nice hair."

But Trudeau didn't try too hard to distance himself from his boyish appeal.

Clad in a varsity jacket on Election Day, Trudeau grinned widely as he hopped onto the bent legs of two aides to form a pyramid in front of his campaign plane, his muscular thighs bulging beneath his jeans.

Canadian media noted the buzz with bemusement. "The world meets Justin Trudeau and likes what it sees," read a headline on CBC.ca.